Sunday, January 22, 2023

Is Perfection Worth the Pain?

Supposedly, Seneca, a Stoic Philosopher, once said, "A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials."

I sometimes wonder if becoming perfect is worth it. I really, really hate the trials I experience, and I don't necessarily feel great about God for letting me experience these trials. Granted, I understand that other people have it much worse, but that just makes my feelings about God even more complicated. Why does He allow people to experience this much suffering?

Of course, from His perspective, this is nothing. A whole human lifetime is barely a moment, from God's perspective. But we don't have God's perspective. If we ever did, the veil of forgetfulness made us lose that perspective just before we were born. All we have is our knowledge of this life, and this life... isn't the best.

Granted, things will hopefully be better in the next life, especially if we endure our trials well in this one, but that's little comfort for those who are stuck in this life.

I'm a rough, unpolished gem who doesn't care, at all, how well polished I'll be at the end of this. I just want the friction to stop.

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